There is a local hardware store in a nearby plaza — a hole in the wall compared to those warehouse stores. It’s chock full of stuff and you can’t even walk through the door without getting offered some expert help. On Saturday I was in there all of 2 minutes before the proprietor offered me a solution for repairing my existing tire — and that includes waiting for him to finish helping the previous customer. Repairing, rather than replacing it, saved me almost 80% of the cost1.

The guy even helped me start to implement the repair, and then I went off and finished the job. I was so happy that I bought some other merchandise I needed while I was there.

I should have learned long ago to shop where the expertise is.

1 The original tire was a tubeless wheelbarrow tire. To repair it he suggested I tear off the valve stem and put a replacement tube into the tire. Since it was a tubeless tire, that solution hadn’t even occurred to me. He cut off the old valve stem for me and I did the rest. It was a bit of work; I spent about 30 minutes listening to the Sox game and trying to work the tube into the tire. But it worked like a charm.